Sanders v. State

351 S.E.2d 666, 181 Ga. App. 117, 1986 Ga. App. LEXIS 2814
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided November 21, 1986·No. 72335·Published·Cited by 40 cases

Opinion

Beasley, Judge.

Sanders appeals from the conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, OCGA § 16-13-30 (b).

1. At trial he moved to suppress evidence of contraband seized in a residence, in an automobile, and from his person. His grounds were that the searches and seizures violated the United States Constitution, Amendments Four, Five, and Fourteen, the Georgia Constitution Art. I, Sec. I, Pars. I and XIII, and OCGA § 17-5-30.

The court denied the motion as to the premises and person but *118 suppressed the evidence found in the car. The basis regarding the premises was that Sanders lacked standing to challenge that search and seizure. On appeal Sanders challenges only the ruling with respect to the premises.

Sanders acknowledges that the residence, for which a search warrant had been issued, was that of two men other than himself. The evidence shows that he and another person came together to the residence on Sunday afternoon. An undercover agent was there along with the residents and a third person, for a prearranged meeting at which a supplier called “T” was to bring cocaine for the agent’s purchase. When the officers who were waiting outside to execute the search warrant were spotted, Sanders was in the back bedroom with resident Brown to “cut out” some cocaine. Alerted, Sanders went to the bathroom, opened the window, and put the bag containing cocaine on the sill outside the window but inside the screen. An agent caught sight of Sanders as he was closing the window, found the cocaine on the sill, and arrested him.

That seizure violated his rights, Sanders contends, and he has standing to complain because an essential element of the crime is possession.

Appellant recognizes that this factor does not give standing to complain of a violation of Fourth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court discarded the rule giving automatic standing to persons accused of possessory crimes in United States v. Salvucci, 448 U. S. 83 (100 SC 2547, 65 LE2d 619) (1980). It held, at 91-92, that “an illegal search only violates the rights of those who have ‘a legitimate expectation of privacy in the invaded place.’ (Cit.)”

We recognized this in Graham v. State, 171 Ga. App. 242, 246 (3) (319 SE2d 484) (1984), and went on to hold that since defendants had no expectation of privacy in the swamp, they had no standing to voice a Fourth Amendment objection to its search. This “expectation of privacy” finding was based on Staton v. State, 164 Ga. App. 464 (1) (297 SE2d 375) (1982), which involved the search of a third person’s premises (defendant’s mother’s apartment), as here. Sanders has shown no fact upon which to base an expectation of privacy in the premises or in the window sill, and thus, as far as the Fourth Amendment is concerned, he is foreclosed from complaining. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U. S. 128 (1) (99 SC 421, 58 LE2d 387) (1978); Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U. S. 98 (100 SC 2556, 65 LE2d 633) (1980).

Sanders makes no argument based on the other provisions of the United States Constitution raised below,'or on the Georgia Constitution, so we will not consider those grounds. Court of Appeals Rule 15 (c) (2); Bodie v. State, 173 Ga. App. 442, 443 (2) (327 SE2d 232) (1985); see also Hawkins v. State, 175 Ga. App. 606 (n. 1) (333 SE2d 870) (1985).

*119 It is OCGA § 17-5-30 that gives appellant hope. He offers that the statute gives him standing to challenge a search of another’s residence because he is charged with a possessory offense and is thus a person “aggrieved” by the search which yielded the evidence. He relies on Reece v. State, 152 Ga. App. 760 (264 SE2d 258) (1979).

Of course, a state statute may give broader rights than does the United States Constitution. 1 The United States Supreme Court has often stated this principle which derives from the natures of both federalism and constitutional law. For example, and specifically with respect to the Fourth Amendment, that Court has said: “Of course, Congress or state legislatures may extend the exclusionary rule and provide that illegally seized evidence is inadmissible against anyone for any purpose.” Alderman v. United States, 394 U. S. 165, 175 (89 SC 961, 22 LE2d 176) (1968).

The trouble with Sanders’ reliance on Reece is that it applies federal constitutional law, not OCGA § 17-5-30. So it does not construe the statute. As shown, the federal constitutional law has abrogated automatic standing for persons charged with crimes of possession. We. find no case construing the state statute as giving such standing. Nor does one appear giving standing based on appellant’s other argument, that he was a covered “defendant aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure,” in the words of the statute, because the objective of the search warrant was the interception of the cocaine delivery by him, so the fact he was a non-resident of the premises to be searched was irrelevant to his status as a person aggrieved and thus clothed with a right to complain. For defendant movant to be “aggrieved” by the search on the premises under our state statute, the alleged violation must have occurred on movant’s premises or movant’s Fourth Amendment rights must have been infringed in some other manner. Van Nice v. State, 180 Ga. App. 112, 114 (1) (348 SE2d 515) (1986); Romano v. State, 162 Ga. App. 816, 819 (1) (292 SE2d 533) (1982). We decline to accept the proposition that defendant achieved the,status of one “aggrieved” under OCGA § 17-5-30, merely because the objective of the search warrant was the interception of the cocaine delivery, since it is the recognized relationship of the person with the property searched that gives rise to the protective device of suppression. See State v. Scott, 176 Ga. App. 887, 888 (1) (339 SE2d 276) (1985).

We find no error in the trial court’s ruling.

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Sanders v. State, 351 S.E.2d 666, 181 Ga. App. 117, 1986 Ga. App. LEXIS 2814 (Ga. Ct. App. 1986).

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